In the men’s race, Peterson, 18, proved to his competitors why he is considered one of the world’s foremost open water specialists, winning the race with a time of 53:10.
“During the first 2K, I decided if I couldn’t make a break, then I wanted someone else to take the lead,” said Peterson, who recently captured the 5K title at the 2006 Pan American Open Water Championships. “Scott Kaufmann took the lead just before the halfway point and picked up the pace.”
Peterson plotted his strategy for the last part of the race based on the conditions he experienced during the first loop of the course. With slight off-shore currents, two-foot swells and wind chop, Peterson wanted to make sure he was in good position going around the last turn buoy.
“I could tell that (going in first towards) the last buoy would (prove to be a) big advantage,” Peterson said. “It was sort of like when you are the first person going from breaststroke to free in the IM.”
Peterson picked up the pace into the last buoy, and with a quick 90-degree turn towards the finish, established an insurmountable distance between him and his competitors.
On the women’s side, the 15-year-old Groome finished just ahead of Chloe Sutton (Ashburn, Va. / The Fish). It was the first open water race for both women.
“It was tiring and fun at the same time,” Groome said. “At the halfway point on the second lap, I thought I should make a move. The waves were pretty rough. I made a move around the buoy and knocked someone’s goggles off, but I didn’t mean to.”
Sutton, 14, was that someone.
“I was in the lead for the first 800, and then Kirsten and I swam side-by-side for the entire race,” Sutton said. “Then she went around a buoy, and we collided. My goggles fell off. This was my first open water race, and I definitely will do more. It was exciting, and it went by pretty fast.”
USA Swimming’s Open Water National Championships continue Sunday with the 10K race. Complete results will be posted as soon as they are available. For more information about the event, go to www.minnows.info/06openwater.html.
Below are the links to the final results from the 5K, 10K, and 25K races. For more information about the event, go to www.minnows.info/06openwater.html.
- Women’s 5K Results
- Men’s 5K Results
- 5K Relay Results
- Women’s 10K Results
- Men’s 10K Results
- 10K Relay Results
- Women's 25k Results
- Men's 25k Results
About USA Swimming: As the National Governing Body for competitive swimming in the United States, USA Swimming formulates the rules, implements policies and procedures, conducts national championships, disseminates safety and sports medicine information and selects athletes to represent the United States in international competition. USA Swimming has more than 300,000 members nationwide and sanctions more than 7,000 events each year. For more information, visit www.usaswimming.org.
